Roma's lanai enclosure (lots of pics)

[FujiBaird]

Roma is a juvenile Hermann's of indeterminate age (she's 67mm long right now, so I'm guessing 1-2 years old). I've had this little ball of cute for about a month and have just finished constructing an outdoor enclosure on my balcony. It's about 6' by 3', and in a south-facing area that gets sun off and on through the day. It's modularly built using seed trays and drawer organizers, filled with substrate that is a mix of coir, organic soil, and orchid bark. There's metal wire shelves serving as a predator cage on top -- I took them off for these photos but you can see the wood railings to support the shelves in the background of some photos.

The enclosure is divided roughly into 3 zones:

A rocky "pool" area with basking areas, food and water, and a humid hide
The "house", surrounded by grass and Roma's favorite flowering plants to snack on
The "back yard" with leafy greens and grasses, and a hide shaded by leafy vines

I'm really happy with how it's turned out so far considering that it's a modest apartment in an urban highrise building. And Roma seems happy with it too!

I've planted lots of tortoise-friendly seeds, I'm just waiting for them to all sprout and fill in the dirt a bit. (Hey Roma, it would help if you stopped eating all the little kale sprouts...)

The other thing I want to do is fill the "house" with a layer of hay or dead leaves. She doesn't go in there much now, but I think it will be much more appealing with something cozy to dig into.

The pool and house...


The house and back yard...spot Roma!


Sleepy tortoise emerging from the leafy hide



Mazuri meatball for lunch


The humid hide



Roaming in the flowers


The house


Investigating the humid hide


Mazuri mouth! Do they make tortoise napkins?

 

[wellington]

Nice, it looks really nice. You put a lot of thought and work into it.

 

[Arizona Sulcata]

If only Sulcatas would keep an enclosure nice like that... When I first started off I built a "pretty enclosure" and it was destroyed within minutes. Looks like your tort will be in great hands!

 

[FujiBaird]

Thanks @wellington and @Arizona Sulcata ! Roma has only been in there for a couple days...This one seems to prefer walking through plants rather than walking around plants, so I expect that she will start murdering plants and toppling things soon enough.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

very cute photos of a very cute lil' tort!

 

[bouaboua]

Very beautiful enclosure! ! ! ! ! Nice photo too!!

 

[lismar79]

Really nice job!

 

[Anyfoot]

love it, bring the outdoors inside.

 

[Yvonne G]

That's just beautiful!

 

[kathyth]

I love it and the tortoise!
You put plenty of thought into that great enclosure

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

It's so nice! I LOVE all the plants.
Hay is pretty drying, and I'd actually suggest sticking some of the dirt in there... very easy to burrow into.
She may have trouble with her ramp, maybe something to grip onto?
I like it. You did a great job
(is she staying out at night?)

 

[Momof4]

Nicely done!!

 

[naturalman91]

very nice, is this indoors or out?

 

[Jacqui]

Love the plants!!!

 

[Prairie Mom]

I love it! It's very pretty.

 

[FujiBaird]

Thank you for the kind words, everyone!

very nice, is this indoors or out?

This is outdoors on my (concrete and tile) balcony.

It's so nice! I LOVE all the plants.
Hay is pretty drying, and I'd actually suggest sticking some of the dirt in there... very easy to burrow into.
She may have trouble with her ramp, maybe something to grip onto?
I like it. You did a great job
(is she staying out at night?)

Thanks! Good point about the hay, I'll try some orchid bark (messy but one of her favorite things to dig into). I currently have a piece of fine-grit sandpaper stapled onto the ramp, but it could be that she doesn't like how it feels -- can you suggest something else to use instead? I was hoping the sandpaper might help smooth down those needle-sharp claws that she has!

The temperatures here are probably mild enough to leave her out (it's rare for it to drop below 60 overnight here) but I have been bringing her in for my own peace of mind. You know how it is when you have a new little one!

 

[Anyfoot]

Hi fujibaird

I think you enclosure looks excellent. In the first photo, What is that plant called that is closest to the side of the ramp.
There is only one thing I would look out for, the white stones look sharp, so keep an eye on that they don't scratch the plastron of your tort. Deep scratches that get damp can start off shell rot in SOME cases. If they do scratch him/her just change em out for smoother stones. Your design has inspired me for some more ideas on my design.
Thanks
Craig

 

[Yvonne G]

The one with round leaves? That's nasturtium.

 

[Anyfoot]

The one with round leaves? That's nasturtium.

That's the one, Thank you. will get some of those.

 

[FujiBaird]

Hi fujibaird

I think you enclosure looks excellent. In the first photo, What is that plant called that is closest to the side of the ramp.
There is only one thing I would look out for, the white stones look sharp, so keep an eye on that they don't scratch the plastron of your tort. Deep scratches that get damp can start off shell rot in SOME cases. If they do scratch him/her just change em out for smoother stones. Your design has inspired me for some more ideas on my design.
Thanks
Craig

Thanks Craig! Good point about the stones. They are marble chips (mixed with a few river stones) and don't seem too sharp, but I don't like that they aren't very stable, if you know what I mean. They tend to move around a bit as Roma climbs over them because they are all about the same size and don't really settle in to be smooth and compacted. (Does that make sense?). I'm thinking I might change to aquarium river rock gravel if I have problems with the chips.

Yvonne is right, that's a nasturtium. They had it in the vegetable section at Home Depot. Just got my first flowers on it!